Someone the other day asked me how I felt about Bamboozled after I shared my views about blackface and why I felt it to be offensive. I briefly stated that I wasn't offended at Bamboozled because the circumstances in which blackface was used was completely different than the context we have seen recently in Australia and in French Vogue.
I guess for those who have never seen the movie, I will give a synopsis. A black network executive is told by his white boss that he is "too white" and all his television shows about blacks are too "whitewashed". The executive isn't able to quit due to a contract, so he concocts the Mantan: The New Millennium Minstrel Show for the sole purpose of getting fired. It is literally a minstrel show staring Mantan and his best friend, Sleep n' Eat. The show displays Mantan and Sleep n' Eat's exploits in the watermelon patch. Mantan is a nod to Mantan Moreland, and Sleep n' Eat is a nod to Willie Best. His boss loves it and the show becomes a mainstream hit, not only appealing to black audiences, but other races as well. Fans of all ages and races are referring to themselves a "nigger", and no one is offended because "it's all in good fun."
The movie is pure satire, but the sad thing is I see it happening every single day in the entertainment industry. There isn't much difference between this:
and this:
I don't normally agree with Spike Lee, but he is right on this one.There is a certain expectation of what black is, and as a black person you are supposed to fit into this mold and be part of a great big monolith. I remember growing up getting asked by white kids why I didn't "act like the others", not realizing that they had never met the others, just saw them on TV. I never once questioned why these white children didn't see me as the norm, since I was the only black person they knew in real life. Why was I "other" and the people on TV appropriate in their stereotypical "blackness?" Why is it people always asked me why I talked different? Why did they ask me what is it like to live in the ghetto, when I lived in their neighborhoods and had never lived there? Or if I could dance for them. Or if I used Crisco in my hair. These kids had never seen me in the ghetto, had never been friends with black people prior to me, but they knew how black people were supposed to be because of what they saw on television or what their other friends and family told them. They had no real direct experience with black people, just perceptions to go on, and they stuck with those perceptions. Why?
When we challenge these people and their perceptions we are "sensitive", "too politically correct", or we can't take a joke. We see entertainment and blame the entertainers, when we need to blame not only the entertainers, but the corporate entities that actively market them. We always talk about how other blacks and their perceptions of what "acting white" is, without taking into consideration what whites think "acting black" is, and it is usually without the luxury of knowing what "black" is up close and personal.
10 comments:
I remember watching Bamboozled with a group of black people and part of the way in, most of them claimed that the movie so offended them that they insisted on turning it off. Perhaps, they did not get the fact that the movie was a satire. Or perhaps it hit too close to home for some of them.
But the reality is that all blacks are measured against the caricature of blackness that is promulgated through the various media. This caricature of blackness is what animates the pubic imagination. And just as in the movie, the more garish and moronic the character acts, the more popular he or she gets and the more money he or she seems to make.
However, despite the popularity and despite the money, I often wonder what these people must think of themselves when they are alone. I wonder do they see themselves as buffoons or do they see themselves as serious artists. Though I would like to believe it's the former, in reality it is perhaps the latter. And that is the part that galls me.
Siditty---
Have you written a post about the Little Black Sambots from "Transformers"? The high-tech, digirati generation's version of Blackface.
I wrote about the Transformers a while back :)
I just want to comment on a few points in your post on this topic:
They had no real direct experience with black people, just perceptions to go on, and they stuck with those perceptions. Why?
They stuck with those ideas because there were few examples to the contrary; not just from their personal experience, but from the experiences of those individuals who had informed the original opinion.
When we challenge these people and their perceptions we are "sensitive", "too politically correct", or we can't take a joke.
In my opinion, the underlying issue is actually: "You're just mad because you know it's true". Every one is too polite, of course, to say it, but I think that's what most people think when any group, especially Blacks, makes an issue out of stereotypical representations. They believe we're not insulted, but rather, we're embarrassed.
We see entertainment and blame the entertainers, when we need to blame not only the entertainers, but the corporate entities that actively market them.
In my opinion, I think the entertainers must shoulder the largest burden of blame. They make the choice to behave in the manner in which they do and present these forms of entertainment. I believe that particularly in the case of Blacks, we've got to stop colluding in our degradation.
I think "Bamboozled"'s most salient point was that Black people were amused.
And Michael Bay used that same line to defend his Sambots. Because a Black actor did one of the voices, and because Black people laughed, Bay felt he could wash his hands of responsibility. (Bay, of course, is just a coward.)
And of course, The Modern Minstrel King, Tyler Perry, has made his chittlin' circuit fortune from Blacks.
That says more, I think, about Blacks needing to change their mindset first and foremost. I think this is even more necessary because, while Tyler Perry is actually profiting from his material, most Black entertainers are simply "jiving for the Master" (who's pocketing most of the dough).
We always talk about how other blacks and their perceptions of what "acting white" is, without taking into consideration what whites think "acting black" is
I don't believe that's true. I think we are all aware of exactly what is meant by "acting Black"--- it's the exact opposite of "acting White". "Acting Black" is: borderline illiteracy and general low intellect, loose sexual morals, absence of ethics, overt religiosity, hucksterism over hard-work, excessive posturing, etc. The pseudo-positive aspects of "Black" are: superior athletic ability and an almost genetic predisposition to musicality (and even those relatively neutral traits are derided for their quintessential "Blackness").
Essentially, "Black" is synonymous with "primitive", and intellectual and cultural inferiority.
If the world were a kingdom, Blacks would be the Court Jesters.
And, of course, the reason this concept of "Blackness" persists is because stereotypes don't exist in a vacuum. There are simply more examples of this type of "Blackness" than others.
I think Bamboozled is Spike Lee's angriest film, and in some ways his anger gets the better of him here. It's hard to watch, and it's supposed to be. As I said, I find blackface so repulsive that it makes my skin crawl. But no matter what, once again he makes something compelling that forces the audience to confront and really think about these issues. The film also has this undertone of sadness which potently underlies so much of Spike Lee's work.
Needless to say, I am a huge Spike Lee fan actually, he is a filmmaker who has a command over film vocabulary that only a true artist can have, at his best he makes great lyrical films. Malcolm X is a truly great film if you haven't seen it. I also have always admired Spike Lee's bravery and determination to get what he wants to the screen. Many of these films he's had to fight hard for. At the end of the day I'll watch anything Spike Lee makes simply because he is a great filmmaker (and communicator), who stands with any of the greats of film history. I'd also say the When the Levees Broke, is arguably one of the greatest documentaries ever made. It's remarkable.
Bamboozled is an excellent film. Not all of Spike Lee's movies work, but this one definitely does-especially the ending where he highlights the many anti-Black stereotypes that Hollywood has promoted.
The Blackface is historical and condemned, not celebrated.
"Ronia" is the type of Stormfront racist who thinks Blacks will more readily swallow poison if it's being served up by another black person.
Reading these comments just reminded me the last time I saw blackface on a network show.
All in the Family. The episode where Gloria was giving birth and Archie came down to the hospital from a lodge talent show, dressed in blackface.
"Ronia" is the type of Stormfront racist who thinks Blacks will more readily swallow poison if it's being served up by another black person.
Oh please.
It's been acknowledged before, on this very blog, that Tyler Perry is making a fortune off the type of Blacks who laugh at Blackface and think "it's all in good fun". The exact type of Blacks whom Spike Lee made a point of highlighting in "Bamboozled".
In other words, there are Blacks who, for one reason or another, don't view minstrel shows or Blackface as racially degrading. They express even less concern if the individual presenting the Blackface/minstrel show is Black.
So yes, they ARE the type of Blacks who WOULD more readily swallow poison if it's being served by another Black.
That it offends your sensibilities doesn't make it any less true. If it soothes your constitution any, rest assured it's equally as true for other races. It's true for other SPECIES. It's not a phenomenon unique to any one group.
http://stuffwhitepeopledo.blogspot.com/2009/10/suddenly-get-interested-in-non-white.html
Thought you might that link of interest.
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